Waking from a Nightmare
by Cadet Eyes
Summary: Tony's reaction in the elevator in Bury Your Dead. Tag to that episode.


**Tag to Bury Your Dead. I noticed that as the elevator doors opened, Tony was looking down. This is my take as to why**

**DISCLAIMER: If i owned it do you really think i'd be sitting here writing fanfics? i thought not**

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It was like waking up from a bad dream. The memories were there, but it seemed like it was someone else doing it, and he was just sitting in the fog on the edges watching.

He screwed up. He knew he did. The op was blown to hell, his teammates probably thought he was dead, and he broke the heart of the only person who really mattered in a long while.

Three strikes, as they say.

When Tony was dropped off at the gates, he noticed the sympathetic glances from Renee and the death glare from Jeanne.

Boy, had that been an awkward drive back to NCIS.

Tony watched as the limo drove away and didn't turn around until it was long out of sight.

The security guards were surprised to say the least, but one look at Tony immediately stopped any questions or comments they might have had. Tony stepped into the elevator with little more then a nod at them.

Now came the hard part. Facing his teammates. More importantly, facing Gibbs.

The thought of what Gibbs would say caused Tony to hit the emergency stop button.

Gibbs would be pissed. And that was putting it mildly. Tony had been part of this operation since the beginning, and that was when Gibbs had taken his hiatus in Mexico.

There were plenty of opportunities to tell Gibbs about it. But he didn't take them. Tony ignored the multiple glances, ranging from concerned to downright furious, he received from his boss these past few months.

Tony leaned against the wall. The past few months had been the hardest. Not only was Gibbs on his ass about everything, something he was used to, Director Shepard had been almost unbearable with her damn obsession with La Grenouille. The obsession that caused him to have to lie to and hurt Jeanne.

Jeanne. That was another story entirely. Tony knew full well that she was probably never going to talk to him again. And if she did, it would be a lot of yelling and words that would make a sailor blush.

He couldn't deal with this. He knew everyone would be waiting on the other side of the elevator when he went up. Gibbs, McGee, Ziva, the Director, and the entire floor. They were all probably investigating his "death" which meant they already knew about the undercover operation.

Which meant Gibbs had time to think about how much Tony had screwed up and what he was going to say when he say him.

Not say, yell. There was no doubt in Tony's mind that there was going to be consequences for his actions. At the least, a reprimand in his file and maybe a suspension.

But he was never that lucky.

Thinking about what would happen, Tony almost hit the button for the ground floor when he flipped the emergency switch again. He quickly and seriously considered fleeing from the building and leaving it to deal with in the morning. Tony didn't think he could handle what Gibbs was going to say to him. Not today.

Just as quickly as he thought it, Tony realized how bad of an idea it really was. Running wasn't something that would work in his favor. If Gibbs knew that he wasn't actually dead, then he'd just be even more mad come the morning.

Tony hit the correct the button and felt the elevator jump into life, raising closer and closer to his doom. Tony put his head in his hand, using the other to keep his balance against the side of the elevator.

The dong signaling his floor come much too quickly for his liking. Now or never.

The doors opened, and the first thing Tony saw was Trent Kort. It was one thing to show defeat in front of Gibbs, but to do so in front of a CIA slime ball was something he would never do. He planted a too bright smile on, one he was painfully aware didn't reach his eyes, and joked with Kort.

What happened next was what Tony was expecting, just not from Kort. Being thrown against the wall caused Tony to become aware of the bruises that were starting to form from the previous night. He let out an involuntary wince.

What Tony wasn't expecting was to hear not one, but three guns being drawn. He looked over towards the sound and saw Ziva, McGee, and Gibbs with their Sig's pointed at Kort. But they also had looks of relief on their faces, and even small smiles. Kort quickly let him go and stormed of in a fit.

Tony stepped away from the wall, keeping the fake smile firmly in place, threw out one more joke. He saw the three people in front of him relax. Now to deal with the Director.

Jenny quickly stepped forward towards Tony, fully intending to find out what happened to compromise the op.

When Gibbs stepped between Tony and the Director, forcing her to keep a distance from him, and when Tony followed Jenny to her office, Gibbs keeping step with him, a gentle reassuring hand on his back, almost like he was trying to keep Tony calm, Tony knew that all of his worries were for nothing, and the everyone, including Gibbs, would understand. The nightmare of this operation was far from over, but he had his friends to help him thought it, and that knowledge helped Tony more then anyone would realize.

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**What do you think? like it? hate it? i'd love to know.**

**fair warning tho, i wrote this at 11 at night so it won't be very good, but i knew if i left it to sit i wouldn't get the ideas back in the morning.**

**Please Review**


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